July 31, 2017 marks a change in my career and focus.
Starting January 2012, I worked in one form or other for a software company called CloudCraze. CloudCraze is a game-changing B2B ecommerce system built wholly on the Salesforce platform.
CloudCraze was founded by EDL Consulting CEO Bill Loumpouridis and spawned out of EDL's ecommerce and Salesforce practices (EDL is now part of Simplus), and was then acquired by Aktion Partners in August 2015 (these are the guys who built the Acquity Group, took it public and then sold to Accenture a few years back).
From January 2012 through August 2015, a small group of us built the software and implementation practice up, then got a huge boost when the Aktion Partner guys bought and invested in the key people and IP, creating CloudCraze Software LLC. The growth trajectory has rocketed steadily up, and one can find their news stories and media posts on further investments and new customer acquisitions.
In short - CloudCraze is a growing Hybris-killer, Magento-squasher, Websphere-masher... and I'm done.
CloudCraze and my former colleagues there will continue to kill it in the B2B ecommerce space, but as for me, starting August 2017, I'm excited to be part of the team at a unique management consulting firm called Farwell Project Advisors LLC.
I'll be narrowing my focus once again to the project management space, advising Farwell clients on portfolio, program and project strategies and execution and related areas like change management and Agile implementation and coaching.
I'm also continuing and extending my academic focus. I will continue to teach for UW-Madison (Agile Project Management and Project Management seminars and courses) and UW-Platteville (courses in the Master of Science in Project Management Program). I will also be re-starting work towards a doctorate, beginning with some coursework in Organizational Change Leadership at my beloved UW-Platteville (I'm an alumn, an adjunct professor, and a parent of a Pioneer) prior to transferring into a doctoral program somewhere TBD.
I can't say "watch this space" since I have not exactly been prolific, but hopefully my writing output will increase. Time will tell.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Monday, July 9, 2012
Recently, I have fielded several inquires and had discussions with colleagues who are looking for guidance on education and certifications to pursue in project management. The common theme is that consultants are interested in gaining knowledge and formal certification in order to gain credibility and capability in project management, both internally and with our clients.
Common question: Scrum Master training or PMP? This invites more thinking and discussion about one's career objectives than can be answered with a fast recommendation. Scrum and Scrum Master training is quick and highly specific to software development, whereas the PMP (Project Management Professional) certification is the culmination of a process and is typically a key milestone for someone pursuing a career focused on project management that may span a broader mix of project types and verticals.
Attaining the PMP should not be seen as a quick win/credibility bolsterer… it's a longer path if done right, and is probably for consideration only if considering PM as primary career focus.
Scrum Master training should also not be seen as a quick win/credibility bolsterer. As noted, Scrum is a specific approach to software development, and as such Scrum training does not teach other facets of project management that are crucial to delivering successful and profitable projects.
One mildly annoying aspect of this discussion is the sense from the developer/technically-oriented consultant that a quick class or two and a certification will provide the knowledge and credibility needed to successfully manage projects. This is no more the case than my taking a Java or .NET course or two and being ready to develop websites. Successful project management requires experience.
The number and nature of questions I have fielded about this topic leads me to organize the following thoughts and recommendations on project management training, certification and career pathing for consultants looking to become project managers:
1) Shadow a PM or managing consultant on a project: Before a consultant manages a project or even acts on their thinking that they might want to get into project management, they should shadow an experienced project manager on a client-facing project. This provides insight into the various aspects of managing consulting projects that will help prepare a person for further thinking and next steps.
2) Take a basic project management course - get basics of project management through structured education: After getting some first-hand observation of project management, a next step would be gaining formal education in general project management through a course covering the basics of project planning, scheduling and control, either online or 2 - 3 day seminar.
3) Manage a small project: With the shadowing experience and initial formal education, a candidate project manager may be ready to take on the PM role for a small client-facing project. The consultant's experience with this initial opportunity will doubtless provide insight to the consultant as to the continued interest in this career direction as well as to his/her employer in terms of that person's suitability and aptitude for this role representing their employer.
4) Debrief - career pathing - assess likelihood and interest in project management as career within and beyond their current employer: After the first formal project manager role, management and the consultant should debrief and assess whether the PM role and path is appropriate for the consultant. It is also a perfect time to assess the firm's needs for project management based on projected client/project workloads and business pipeline.
5) Determine education/training needs based on short-term project load, long-term career goals: The consultant's projected assignments are a factor to consider. If a consultant is lining up to manage a project, a 2 - 3 day seminar in a specific project management process group (risk management, estimating, project teams, leading/influencing without formal authority, procurement/contracts, etc) could be valuable and provide fresh lessons for the consultant to take into the project.
As noted earlier, Scrum Master training is highly specialized to software development using Scrum - this training should not be seen as a quick win/credibility bolsterer unless a person is going to go right on to a Scrum/Agile project and apply the learning. However, with the background of basic project management education and some experience managing some projects, Scrum (specific) or Agile (general) training is a good option to provide breadth of methodology knowledge and gives the consultant a bigger toolkit for managing projects.
Further "traditional" project management education and PMP prep through PMI (Project Management Institute) Registered Education Providers (REPs) is an option for consultants who demonstrate an interest in project management as a primary focus as well as the aptitude to lead larger and more complex projects on a regular basis.
The specific details and requirements for eligibility, preparation and completion of the PMP exam are available through PMI. Generally speaking, they include general education requirements, specific education requirements in project management, and specific documented experience managing projects. It is also worth noting that many experienced practitioners of project management feel that PMP preparation requires one to immerse in PMI's PMBOK (project management body of knowledge), which for many deviates significantly from "real world" project management practices. Therefore, PMP candidates who are also practicing project managers need to "compartmentalize" their preparation and be cognizant of the differences between what PMI expects on the PMP exam versus how one might handle a project situation per the needs of their organization or client.
One other route for consultants to consider is Agile certification through PMI. Different from the PMP and from Scrum Master training, the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) has education and experience prerequisites, but is focused on Agile practices in addition to a basis in traditional project management. This route is more involved and time-consuming than Scrum Master training, but also demands and then certifies a deeper and broader understanding and competency in Agile project management.
No single approach or path will suit all firms or consultants. The recommendations here should serve as a thinking framework to help each consultant and their manager determine the best approach to project management education and experience for that person, for the employer's needs and those of the clients.
Common question: Scrum Master training or PMP? This invites more thinking and discussion about one's career objectives than can be answered with a fast recommendation. Scrum and Scrum Master training is quick and highly specific to software development, whereas the PMP (Project Management Professional) certification is the culmination of a process and is typically a key milestone for someone pursuing a career focused on project management that may span a broader mix of project types and verticals.
Attaining the PMP should not be seen as a quick win/credibility bolsterer… it's a longer path if done right, and is probably for consideration only if considering PM as primary career focus.
Scrum Master training should also not be seen as a quick win/credibility bolsterer. As noted, Scrum is a specific approach to software development, and as such Scrum training does not teach other facets of project management that are crucial to delivering successful and profitable projects.
One mildly annoying aspect of this discussion is the sense from the developer/technically-oriented consultant that a quick class or two and a certification will provide the knowledge and credibility needed to successfully manage projects. This is no more the case than my taking a Java or .NET course or two and being ready to develop websites. Successful project management requires experience.
The number and nature of questions I have fielded about this topic leads me to organize the following thoughts and recommendations on project management training, certification and career pathing for consultants looking to become project managers:
1) Shadow a PM or managing consultant on a project: Before a consultant manages a project or even acts on their thinking that they might want to get into project management, they should shadow an experienced project manager on a client-facing project. This provides insight into the various aspects of managing consulting projects that will help prepare a person for further thinking and next steps.
2) Take a basic project management course - get basics of project management through structured education: After getting some first-hand observation of project management, a next step would be gaining formal education in general project management through a course covering the basics of project planning, scheduling and control, either online or 2 - 3 day seminar.
3) Manage a small project: With the shadowing experience and initial formal education, a candidate project manager may be ready to take on the PM role for a small client-facing project. The consultant's experience with this initial opportunity will doubtless provide insight to the consultant as to the continued interest in this career direction as well as to his/her employer in terms of that person's suitability and aptitude for this role representing their employer.
4) Debrief - career pathing - assess likelihood and interest in project management as career within and beyond their current employer: After the first formal project manager role, management and the consultant should debrief and assess whether the PM role and path is appropriate for the consultant. It is also a perfect time to assess the firm's needs for project management based on projected client/project workloads and business pipeline.
5) Determine education/training needs based on short-term project load, long-term career goals: The consultant's projected assignments are a factor to consider. If a consultant is lining up to manage a project, a 2 - 3 day seminar in a specific project management process group (risk management, estimating, project teams, leading/influencing without formal authority, procurement/contracts, etc) could be valuable and provide fresh lessons for the consultant to take into the project.
As noted earlier, Scrum Master training is highly specialized to software development using Scrum - this training should not be seen as a quick win/credibility bolsterer unless a person is going to go right on to a Scrum/Agile project and apply the learning. However, with the background of basic project management education and some experience managing some projects, Scrum (specific) or Agile (general) training is a good option to provide breadth of methodology knowledge and gives the consultant a bigger toolkit for managing projects.
Further "traditional" project management education and PMP prep through PMI (Project Management Institute) Registered Education Providers (REPs) is an option for consultants who demonstrate an interest in project management as a primary focus as well as the aptitude to lead larger and more complex projects on a regular basis.
The specific details and requirements for eligibility, preparation and completion of the PMP exam are available through PMI. Generally speaking, they include general education requirements, specific education requirements in project management, and specific documented experience managing projects. It is also worth noting that many experienced practitioners of project management feel that PMP preparation requires one to immerse in PMI's PMBOK (project management body of knowledge), which for many deviates significantly from "real world" project management practices. Therefore, PMP candidates who are also practicing project managers need to "compartmentalize" their preparation and be cognizant of the differences between what PMI expects on the PMP exam versus how one might handle a project situation per the needs of their organization or client.
One other route for consultants to consider is Agile certification through PMI. Different from the PMP and from Scrum Master training, the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) has education and experience prerequisites, but is focused on Agile practices in addition to a basis in traditional project management. This route is more involved and time-consuming than Scrum Master training, but also demands and then certifies a deeper and broader understanding and competency in Agile project management.
No single approach or path will suit all firms or consultants. The recommendations here should serve as a thinking framework to help each consultant and their manager determine the best approach to project management education and experience for that person, for the employer's needs and those of the clients.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Madison InBusiness and PMI NA GC
Last week I spoke at Madison, WI InBusiness Annual Expo, on the topic of Improving Project Management. Not something I'll do again.
I am writing from the PMI Global Congress in Dallas - first time I've attended one of these without being a speaker. No pressure! This is the PM profession's Big Dance. Watching the PMIEF award presentations now - had lunch with one of the presenters.
I am writing from the PMI Global Congress in Dallas - first time I've attended one of these without being a speaker. No pressure! This is the PM profession's Big Dance. Watching the PMIEF award presentations now - had lunch with one of the presenters.
Evil Boss Story and PMI NA GC
Want to share a true story of an evil boss while on a break during PMI NA GC:
True Story of an Evil Boss
Someone very close to me works for a major university's school of medicine. She coordinates medical research for multiple doctors. She and her colleagues are highly educated researchers and nurse-practitioners, and their job also involves a lot of project management. She and her immediate supervisor report to the head of the whole school of medicine at this university - a doctor and very demanding boss - how demanding, I am about to tell you.
A couple of weeks ago, the immediate supervisor had acute appendicitis and had emergency surgery when it ruptured. Her appendix ruptured before it could be removed because, despite being doubled over in pain, she did not feel that she could leave work because of her workload and the demands put on her by her boss (the head of the school of medicine).
If your appendix ruptures, you often develop a systemic infection called peritonitis. The ruptured appendix spills poison into your body cavity, and unless immediately controlled with heavy doses of antibiotics, you can die. So, when this gal's appendix ruptured, she had the emergency surgery and was then hospitalized to recover and undergo rounds of antibiotic therapy to fight the infection boiling in her abdomen.
Day after the surgery, this gal's boss, the head of the school of medicine, came up to visit her and see how she was doing. How she was doing was "bad" - imagine having an infection in your guts so bad that the doctors are contemplating putting a drain in you so the goo can seep out. Keep in mind that the boss, the head of the school of medicine, is a doctor. However, seeing that she was conscious and upright, she said "oh, you can work - we should get you your laptop." Fortunately another doctor in the room nixed that idea.
This and the other stories I've heard about this boss (never refusing a new project but won't add sufficient staff, refusing to prioritize projects so that her people are getting barked at equally by all of their study sponsors and doctors) are great reminders that there are still a lot of really clueless people who rise to positions of authority. They have great drive and talent in specific areas, but somehow get the idea that the rest of humanity is there to serve them and their egos.
True Story of an Evil Boss
Someone very close to me works for a major university's school of medicine. She coordinates medical research for multiple doctors. She and her colleagues are highly educated researchers and nurse-practitioners, and their job also involves a lot of project management. She and her immediate supervisor report to the head of the whole school of medicine at this university - a doctor and very demanding boss - how demanding, I am about to tell you.
A couple of weeks ago, the immediate supervisor had acute appendicitis and had emergency surgery when it ruptured. Her appendix ruptured before it could be removed because, despite being doubled over in pain, she did not feel that she could leave work because of her workload and the demands put on her by her boss (the head of the school of medicine).
If your appendix ruptures, you often develop a systemic infection called peritonitis. The ruptured appendix spills poison into your body cavity, and unless immediately controlled with heavy doses of antibiotics, you can die. So, when this gal's appendix ruptured, she had the emergency surgery and was then hospitalized to recover and undergo rounds of antibiotic therapy to fight the infection boiling in her abdomen.
Day after the surgery, this gal's boss, the head of the school of medicine, came up to visit her and see how she was doing. How she was doing was "bad" - imagine having an infection in your guts so bad that the doctors are contemplating putting a drain in you so the goo can seep out. Keep in mind that the boss, the head of the school of medicine, is a doctor. However, seeing that she was conscious and upright, she said "oh, you can work - we should get you your laptop." Fortunately another doctor in the room nixed that idea.
This and the other stories I've heard about this boss (never refusing a new project but won't add sufficient staff, refusing to prioritize projects so that her people are getting barked at equally by all of their study sponsors and doctors) are great reminders that there are still a lot of really clueless people who rise to positions of authority. They have great drive and talent in specific areas, but somehow get the idea that the rest of humanity is there to serve them and their egos.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Fun updates
I'll be presenting Tools and Tactics for Recovering Troubled Projects at the PMI Global Congress later this month. I've been adding more content and activities for Agile projects to this course - I'm looking forward to the latest iteration.
Last week I was at University of Wisconsin E-Business Consortium's annual IT conference. The keynote was the CEO of Macys.com, Peter Sasche. Great presentation - eye-opening in how we as both providers and consumers of information and technology need to adapt, innovate. Very interesting perspectives on the role of IT - yet another senior marketing and technology exec predicting that IT departments will go away and we will see corporate computing as a utility... This has been a prediction for awhile now - unlike power, which does not contain trade secrets and proprietary data, IT does - companies will remain fearful of not having ownership and control on their premises.
Great points on the convergence of search and social media as well as analytics and collaboration. More data, more channels, more ways to interact with customers means more interesting projects.
I'm planning on taking advice from Michael Lopp (Rands in Repose) and staking out turf at a bar at PMI Global Congress, sending out invites through various social media, and seeing who shows up. See you there?
Last week I was at University of Wisconsin E-Business Consortium's annual IT conference. The keynote was the CEO of Macys.com, Peter Sasche. Great presentation - eye-opening in how we as both providers and consumers of information and technology need to adapt, innovate. Very interesting perspectives on the role of IT - yet another senior marketing and technology exec predicting that IT departments will go away and we will see corporate computing as a utility... This has been a prediction for awhile now - unlike power, which does not contain trade secrets and proprietary data, IT does - companies will remain fearful of not having ownership and control on their premises.
Great points on the convergence of search and social media as well as analytics and collaboration. More data, more channels, more ways to interact with customers means more interesting projects.
I'm planning on taking advice from Michael Lopp (Rands in Repose) and staking out turf at a bar at PMI Global Congress, sending out invites through various social media, and seeing who shows up. See you there?
Monday, September 12, 2011
Better doing than writing about it, I guess...
Being way current and visible on all forms of social media is the 2011 equivalent of being all over the Web in the late 1990's. The difference, I am finding, is that I am too busy DOING to write well and meaningfully about WHAT I am doing. And I refuse to Twitter.
As a consequence, my last blog post here was nine months ago. It is interesting to go back and recall what I was up to at that point and what spurred me to write. Glad it mostly passed.
I should be pleased these days. Back in 2006, I started a Project Management Community of Practice at my main job. It took root and was active for about a year or so. Since I was the only one really organizing it, when I became very busy in early 2008, it kind of faded. I and some others had hoped then that it would take root and spur the growth of project management as an important business practice here.
It took awhile, but it seems this has finally happened. The company is continuing to grow and expand physically and into other markets, and our senior leadership is seeing the need to get leverage project management. We've also finished the first phase of our SAP implementation. As a result, we've added project managers in areas that have not had them before.
With all of these PMs around, the CEO sees a need for some common discussions and understanding of how to do project management, and directed a PM in another area (closer to our core functions - I work in IT) to resurrect the PMCOP I had started. Good news.
On other fronts, I am pleased to be busier than ever teaching and speaking. I continue to teach for UW-Platteville in the finest PM master's degree program in the world. It's also great to be back at UW-Madison Exec Ed on a long-term basis, teaching an online course for them as well as developing an Agile Project Management seminar we will start running later this fall.
I continue to work with UC-Irvine and Lakeland College, and periodic SeminarsWorld presentations for PMI rounds out the schedule. I continue to bang away on a book here and there. I've threatened to put some sample chapters out here at some point - watch this space.
As a consequence, my last blog post here was nine months ago. It is interesting to go back and recall what I was up to at that point and what spurred me to write. Glad it mostly passed.
I should be pleased these days. Back in 2006, I started a Project Management Community of Practice at my main job. It took root and was active for about a year or so. Since I was the only one really organizing it, when I became very busy in early 2008, it kind of faded. I and some others had hoped then that it would take root and spur the growth of project management as an important business practice here.
It took awhile, but it seems this has finally happened. The company is continuing to grow and expand physically and into other markets, and our senior leadership is seeing the need to get leverage project management. We've also finished the first phase of our SAP implementation. As a result, we've added project managers in areas that have not had them before.
With all of these PMs around, the CEO sees a need for some common discussions and understanding of how to do project management, and directed a PM in another area (closer to our core functions - I work in IT) to resurrect the PMCOP I had started. Good news.
On other fronts, I am pleased to be busier than ever teaching and speaking. I continue to teach for UW-Platteville in the finest PM master's degree program in the world. It's also great to be back at UW-Madison Exec Ed on a long-term basis, teaching an online course for them as well as developing an Agile Project Management seminar we will start running later this fall.
I continue to work with UC-Irvine and Lakeland College, and periodic SeminarsWorld presentations for PMI rounds out the schedule. I continue to bang away on a book here and there. I've threatened to put some sample chapters out here at some point - watch this space.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Why does everyone think they know how to do my job?
OR "I don't tell you how to declare variables, don't tell me how to quantify schedule risks!"
Rant time! Have you ever noticed that project management is one of those jobs everyone thinks they know how to do? So, I don't tell software developers how to write code, nor do I typically tell my senior managers how to manage (although I've had all their jobs), but I'll regularly get told about where the critical path is, or that my approach to quantifying risks is flawed, or have a group of functional managers looking over my shoulder.
First: In my considerable experience, anytime a non-project manager uses the words "critical path" in a sentence, it is almost guaranteed they've never been in project management or had formal project management training(or they are frustrated aspiring PMs who didn't get the last open PM job).
Next - software developers and creative types hate to be pinned down to commitments to finish tasks, and so when hammering out a schedule, there will always be reasons why the plan you developed is wrong and they will need to redo it for you (instead of writing code).
Lastly, when deep in the throes of developing the latest version of the project plan and schedule, project team members and functional managers alike will pull you aside into earnest meetings on why management's/the team's approach to the project is wrong and will result in disaster (again, instead of making actual progress on their tasks).
My boss says that project management is the hardest job there is, and in some respects he's right! I used to feel mildly guilty about earning what I do for the type of project management work that I do these days, but damn, when I am getting advice, direction or objections from people who all know project management in addition to their own jobs, I earn every penny!
Phillip Diab, MBA, PMP had an interesting blog post recently about PMs getting no respect. In it, he had the following interesting points:
“Management” has to accept some of the responsibility for these challenges. Typically what I’ve seen is that there are contributing factors that cause a lack of respect for PMs and the profession. They stem from:
Lack of understanding what project management is and what the project manager does.
Improper expectations of project managers stemming from the lack of understanding.
Inability to set a clear and communicable strategy and objectives to help drive the organizational projects.
Vagueness in terms of responsibility, accountability, and authority in decision making.
Poor leadership skills in terms of motivating employees and aligning them with proper expectations.
By itself, the PMP certification or other credentials mean little without the braid of experience to back them up. But an experienced PM with a solid PM educational foundation has a real deep bag of tricks to work with, just like an experienced software developer, graphic designer, videographer, etc.
So, if you hire a PMP with a decent resume, consider stepping back and letting her or him do their thing. They might surprise you.
Rant time! Have you ever noticed that project management is one of those jobs everyone thinks they know how to do? So, I don't tell software developers how to write code, nor do I typically tell my senior managers how to manage (although I've had all their jobs), but I'll regularly get told about where the critical path is, or that my approach to quantifying risks is flawed, or have a group of functional managers looking over my shoulder.
First: In my considerable experience, anytime a non-project manager uses the words "critical path" in a sentence, it is almost guaranteed they've never been in project management or had formal project management training(or they are frustrated aspiring PMs who didn't get the last open PM job).
Next - software developers and creative types hate to be pinned down to commitments to finish tasks, and so when hammering out a schedule, there will always be reasons why the plan you developed is wrong and they will need to redo it for you (instead of writing code).
Lastly, when deep in the throes of developing the latest version of the project plan and schedule, project team members and functional managers alike will pull you aside into earnest meetings on why management's/the team's approach to the project is wrong and will result in disaster (again, instead of making actual progress on their tasks).
My boss says that project management is the hardest job there is, and in some respects he's right! I used to feel mildly guilty about earning what I do for the type of project management work that I do these days, but damn, when I am getting advice, direction or objections from people who all know project management in addition to their own jobs, I earn every penny!
Phillip Diab, MBA, PMP had an interesting blog post recently about PMs getting no respect. In it, he had the following interesting points:
“Management” has to accept some of the responsibility for these challenges. Typically what I’ve seen is that there are contributing factors that cause a lack of respect for PMs and the profession. They stem from:
Lack of understanding what project management is and what the project manager does.
Improper expectations of project managers stemming from the lack of understanding.
Inability to set a clear and communicable strategy and objectives to help drive the organizational projects.
Vagueness in terms of responsibility, accountability, and authority in decision making.
Poor leadership skills in terms of motivating employees and aligning them with proper expectations.
By itself, the PMP certification or other credentials mean little without the braid of experience to back them up. But an experienced PM with a solid PM educational foundation has a real deep bag of tricks to work with, just like an experienced software developer, graphic designer, videographer, etc.
So, if you hire a PMP with a decent resume, consider stepping back and letting her or him do their thing. They might surprise you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)